


if you're wondering if i want you to (i want you to)

by singtherage



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-03 04:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11524857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/singtherage/pseuds/singtherage
Summary: Louis can only stare. “Um, shoe size?”“Oh, I’ve got my own," the girl, Liam Payne, says, patting her enormous bag in a way that could only be described as loving. More of a pet than a pat, really. Louis nods and pastes on her smile that saysbowling is fun and I’m glad you’re so excited about it.It’s one of her three work smiles and it took the longest to master.--a bowling AU





	if you're wondering if i want you to (i want you to)

**Author's Note:**

> Ummmmmmmmmmm honestly idk??? If you'd asked me last week I would've said that I'm never writing rpf ever again and you'll pry more 1d fic out of my cold dead hands and YET here we are. I've been wanting to write this for Ages (as in I just checked and the first draft was created September of 2013) and I've gone over it and through it and up and down it so many times in my head I decided it was time to just finally fucking do it. Maybe one of these days I'll write a cohesive plot and not just 30 random scenes mashed together with a bunch of commas but that day is not today.
> 
> Finished, like usual, at 3 am and probably riddled with errors so please be kind

“Liam Payne, checking in.”

Louis looks up from her magazine and stares at the girl in front of her. She’s annoyingly pretty for someone who just used the phrase “checking in” at a bowling alley. “Uh.”

The girl smiles wide and hefts an enormous bowling bag up onto the counter, leans against it, and lets out a little huff that is not in the least bit cute.

Louis can only stare. “Um, shoe size?”

“Oh, I’ve got my own,” the girl, Liam Payne, says, patting her enormous bag in a way that could only be described as loving. More of a pet than a pat, really. Louis nods and pastes on her smile that says _bowling is fun and I’m glad you’re so excited about it_. It’s one of her three work smiles and it took the longest to master.

“Alright. Lane preference?”

“Surprise me,” Liam says. Her smile gets, if possible, even wider.

Louis wonders why no one told her she had been cast in a low budget rom com opposite Liam Payne, Girl Who Takes Bowling Far Too Seriously.

“Okay.” Louis hits the button on the screen for the lane farthest from the shoe counter ( _customer service center,_ Harry says in her head). “You’re good to go on lane 22.”

“Thanks...” Liam’s voice lilts up and she pauses and smiles, “um.”

Louis has seen enough movies to realize this is an indication that she is supposed to give her name. “Louis.”

“Louis. Thanks.”

With that, the girl turns, picks up her bag, and heads toward the other end of the alley, brown, curly hair swishing just above her butt as she walks.

Louis is still in shock when Niall body slams into her back and clings there, breathing way too hard into her ear.

“I see you’ve met Liam.”

Oh God. “Is she a regular?”

“Ohhh yeah.” Louis’ ear is getting damp from the proximity of Niall’s mouth. It switches from too warm to too cold every time Niall breathes out and then in, respectively. “Only for the summer though. Practices for two months and then does the women’s tournament with a bunch of grannies at the end of August.”

“Great.” Louis’ tone must not have the appropriate level of reverence because Niall takes immediate offense.

“Hey, Tomlinson.” Niall peels herself from Louis’ back and hops up onto the counter (her ass fully on top of Louis’ magazine), swinging her scrawny legs. “Those of us who have put in more than three months here happen to love miss Liam Payne. She’s passionate about the sport and she’s easy on the eyes,” Niall winks exaggeratedly, “if you know what I mean.” --Louis is trying to decide which part of that sentence to ridicule first when Niall sits up straighter and continues on, smugly.-- “Besides, I didn’t hire you to make fun of paying customers.”

“You didn’t hire me at all-- Harry did. I seem to recall something about you being a janitor.”

“Hey! Harry says I’m a _cleaning specialist_ and you’re a dick.”

“Harry never says that.”

“She says it all the time.” Niall slides down from the counter and raps her knuckles against Louis’ forehead. “Just not to your face.”

“Uck, don’t touch me with your toilet hands you bitch.”

Niall shoves her left toilet hand into Louis’ mouth, cackling gleefully.

-

After the longest hour of her life, wherein Louis reads only one of Cosmo’s _12 Lifesaving Tips for Dry Winter Skin,_ services three groups of teens ( _customer services,_ Harry sing songs in her head), pinches Niall’s ass twice, and plays six hands of rummy on her phone, Liam appears back in front of her, hair now in a messy bun. Her face is shiny and Louis can’t tell if it’s sweat or if she’s simply glowing after all that bowling, like a pregnant woman. Louis settles on pregnant glow and smiles her _I’m so glad you’re leaving_ smile, which, to unknowing customers, looks like an _I’m so glad you had a pleasant time in this establishment_ smile, according to Niall.

“Hi again!” Liam chirps. Louis can tell now that the glow is actually a thin sheen of sweat from what was most likely some very Aggressive bowling.

“Hello,” Louis drawls, smile turning mean, “checking out?”

The joke was meant to be funny to Louis and Louis only and yet Liam barks out a surprised laugh and beams, rudely, right into Louis’ face. “Yep!”

Louis turns away, navigates the touch screen to lane 22, and rings up the four games Liam had played.

“That’ll be four dollars, please,” Louis says.

Liam pulls four slightly crumpled ones out of a man’s wallet and slides them across the counter. It’s only by force of habit and not lesbiantent (lesbian intent™ - Niall Horan, patent pending) that Louis notices how nice the other girl’s fingers are (long and slender with clean, short nails). It’s also by force of habit that after she closes the register she begins to crumple up the receipt, before Liam makes an aborted little movement with her arm.

“Uh,” she says, biting her lip, “actually, could I have that?”

Louis stops, mid-crumple, and wordlessly hands it over, dropping it in Liam’s outstretched hand. She un-crumples it and proceeds to carefully straighten it out on the counter, running it back and forth along the sharp edge. She folds it neatly in half before finally placing it in her wallet.

Liam smiles again, says “Have a good one,” picks up her bag, and leaves.

“Yup,” Louis replies, dazed by the entire Experience.

She texts Niall, _holy shit,_ and ten eye emojis before putting her head down for a quick nap.

 

***

 

It’s day two of summer bowling and Louis has almost completely forgotten about Liam Payne. It is precisely at the moment when Louis remembers that she’s almost forgotten that Liam walks in through the front door, stupid smile and ugly bag in hand. Of course.

Louis gives Niall, who’s been sitting on the ground behind the counter, hiding from Harry and the enormous shit clogging the only men’s toilet, a swift kick in the side.

“You’re girlfriend’s here.”

Niall gasps. “Pat Benetar?”

“Fucking Christ. _No._ Why would it be Pat Benetar?”

“We shared a very meaningful moment at her meet and greet in the city last year. I went for a kiss on the cheek but she turned her head at the last moment and my tongue touched her nose and-”

“Hi Liam,” Louis says, cutting Niall off before she can explain why on God’s green Earth she went for a cheek kiss tongue first.

Liam, now at the desk, opens her mouth to respond just as Niall scrambles to her feet and launches herself over the counter, landing face first in Liam’s boobs. Her screech of “LEEM” is muffled in Liam’s, admittedly, decent rack.

Liam laughs, a full laugh that’s deeper than Louis expected, and pats and then kisses the back of Niall’s head.

“Hi, Niall! It’s good to see you.”

Niall pulls back from Liam’s chest (patting guiltily at the wet spot that her [constantly] open mouth left on the gray fabric of Liam’s shirt) and slides backwards, landing gently on Louis’ side of the counter once more.

“Beautiful as ever, Payne.” Niall has a grin that would be described as _wolfish_ on a regular person but just looks deranged on her, a fucking nutcase. “When are you gonna let me make an honest woman out of you?”

“One of these days,” Liam says, easy smile on her face.

Louis loves Niall, loves that she makes friends with everyone she meets, _really_ loves that she got her this job, but this is too much. Has everyone but Louis lost their Goddamn mind? Did she enter an alternate reality when she stepped through the doors at work this morning?

She’s brought back to (alternate) reality when Niall rests her chin on Louis’ shoulder and sighs, whistling lightly, directly, into her ear. They watch Liam walk away and drop her stuff on the table by lane 5.

“Did you put her at the lane right next to me on purpose?”

“Of course,” Niall says, shoving her hand down the back of Louis’ pants, “she has the cutest little butt.”

“Heyy.”

“Second cutest.” Niall squeezes Louis’ right ass cheek lovingly.

“NIALL!” Harry’s voice is clearly audible even though Harry herself is nowhere to be seen.

“Gotta go,” Niall says. She removes her hand from Louis’ pants and places a quick bite on the cartilage of her ear before dashing off.

-

The rest of Louis’ shift is much less eventful. It’s a Monday and, even though the summer bowling promotions have started, the area schools are still in session and the alley has been practically empty, save for the weekends. The only interruptions are Harry and Niall (who seem to have made up) sliding down the empty lanes on their socked feet, making Liam double over with laughter, and Liam paying for her four games and taking her four dollar cash receipt with her once again.

The second the door closes behind her, Louis locks up early and joins Harry and Niall in the lanes. They race up and down, shrieking and giggling and pushing each other over. They have to stop when Niall slides too far, falling into the pins and almost getting beheaded by the pinsetter. Harry panics, throwing balls down the lane to knock out the setter, while Niall shouts hysterically and covers her head with her arms. Louis finally takes mercy on them both and turns off the power to the lanes. She helps Harry free Niall from the clutches of the machine and they land in a pile at the end of lane 6. They stay there, tangled up together, until the sun sinks below the horizon.

 

***

 

On day three of dollar bowling days, Liam comes in wearing a black t-shirt with a big white bowling ball on it that says _Pass The Bowl_ in bold white letters. Louis really hopes she gets the joke or it would be even more embarrassing than it already is. Louis gets the feeling that Liam is, in general, a very embarrassing person. The walking embarrassment in question is currently lugging (well, not lugging, more like gracefully carrying as if it weighed two pounds) her bowling ball bag across the alley and up to the counter, smiling brightly the whole way. Louis can’t be sure if the smile is specifically for her or if it’s just one that Liam wears 24/7.

“Hi, Louis!”

“Hello Liam.” Louis adopts her _I’m glad to see you, valued customer_ smile (no one can say she doesn’t earn her paycheck).

Liam looks downright ecstatic that Louis remembers her name, apparently not comprehending just how memorable their first two encounters had been. Louis also reminds herself that not everyone is quite the customer service goddess that she is. She puts Liam on lane 5 again, telling herself it has nothing to do with Liam’s “cute little butt.”

“Enjoy your game,” Louis says with what could almost be called a genuine smile.

“I will. See ya!” Liam waggles her fingers at Louis in a goodbye wave -- the kind that Louis often uses on dogs and babies she meets while she’s walking down the street.

She then picks up her bag, spins around, and walks off like she’s not the most baffling person on the planet.

 

***

 

“But what does she _do_ with them? It doesn’t make any sense!”

Niall pauses, mouth agape (as usual) and halfway to her breakfast burrito. “Will you let it the fuck go? Goddamn. Always with the fucking receipts.”

It’s been three weeks, 21 days, and 21 four dollar cash receipts neatly folded and placed in Liam Payne’s black wallet. And it’s not like her wallet is stuffed full of receipts like any respectable person’s wallet is, like Louis’ wallet is. It’s empty every time, like she has a folder for bowling receipts at home. Why? What is she going to do with those receipts? Claim them on her taxes? No, that would be ridiculous. Liam is not a professional bowler. No one is a professional bowler. Well. Actually some people are but definitely not Liam Payne, Girl Who Keeps Four Dollar Cash Receipts.

“I just don’t get it, is all.”

Niall sighs around her burrito and flips her off with her free hand.

 

***

 

The break room at Alley Road ( _Get it??_ Harry had said earnestly, directly in Louis’ face during her interview. _Of course,_ Louis had said, _good one, ma’am._ Harry had told her the job was hers if she never called her ma’am again.) is the best break room Louis has ever had the pleasure of breaking in. Seriously, all sarcasm aside. This is most likely due to the fact that Louis, Niall, and Harry are the only three employees sharing one decent sized room. Louis may give Harry and Niall shit about being legitimately wacko but they’ve kept this place going for a solid three years now, all on their own. She honestly has no idea how they do it all.

Louis and Niall met in English 101 their freshman year and they’d become fast friends. Niall ended up dropping out six weeks into the semester to _open a bowling alley with my old buddy, Harry, isn’t that sick?_ but they’d remained close. (Louis herself is still plugging along, one year left in her early childhood education degree.) So when Niall had finally convinced Harry that they needed someone at the front during the summers, she’d called up Louis. Louis may be a bit of a bitch, and she may take a few too many naps during work hours but she has real respect for what Harry and Niall have managed to accomplish here. She might even say she’s proud, if she was the kind of person who allowed herself to feel her emotions sober.  

 

***

 

Louis can’t be sure when exactly it happened but her initial confusion slash indifference toward Liam has faded and since been replaced with well-intentioned ridicule and is currently well on its way toward genuine affection. It’s disgusting, is what it is. But every day Louis looks forward to Liam’s stupid happy face and her stupid ugly bowling bag and her _incredibly_ stupid leather bowling gloves ( _Look, my grandmother monogrammed them for me, isn’t that neat?_ \- Liam Payne, Actual Human Being). Louis makes a list in the notepad on her phone called “Important Events that have changed my mind about dumb bitch liam payne (no offense).” Included on the list is the time Liam brought her a white mocha ( _the barista thought I ordered two, I swear_ ), the first time Liam talked back instead of just laughing at Louis’ insults, the time Liam helped them close and hugged Louis tight around the stomach when she said goodbye, and a detailed summary of the cute way Liam bowls (of note: the way her fists clench the second she lets go of the ball, the way her body leans toward the direction she wants the ball to go, the way she doesn’t seem to notice this leaning, the little jump she does when she gets a strike, the way she looks around after to make sure no one saw the little jump, and, of course, her cute little butt).

-

Niall may or may not catch Louis writing this list and practically scream with delight, “I KNEW IT, TOMMO!”

Her and Harry may or may not spend the next week watching like hawks from the bathroom every time Louis and Liam interact.

 

***

 

Niall texts Louis,  _ur 4th work smile is "im looking at liam payne" u gaymo_

 

***

 

Niall and Harry own a house together. This is something that Louis knows, has stored in the back of her mind (the sky is blue and Niall and Harry own a house), but now that she’s actually standing in front of Niall and Harry’s _fucking house_ , she finds herself regretting every single decision she’s ever made.

“Niall you piece of shit,” Louis says to make herself feel better when Niall opens the door. She immediately squeezes her way through and pinches Niall’s nipple, hard.

“Hey! Watch it, Tommo. This is an adult dinner party.”

“Hmm.” Louis looks around at the inside of the house. It’s small, but clean, and homey. “What does that mean?”

“It _means_ that we are going to act like civilized adults for once. And we couldn’t afford a keg.”

“Gotcha.”

“But we have pizza. And a faucet.”

“Babe, you had me at faucet.”

Niall grins. “I haven’t even told you the best part yet.”

“What’s that?”

“Liam’s coming.”

“Oh?” Louis says, testing the couch before sprawling out on it, very Casually. “That’s nice.”

“Louis, you whore!” Niall leaps on the couch, slamming her knee straight into Louis’ stomach and knocking the wind out of her. “You love her!”

Louis attempts to deny the accusation but she’s a little too busy fucking _dying_ to get the words out. She manages to choke out a _bitch_ and some weak slaps to Niall’s face before Harry vaults over the back and lands on them both.

“Are you guys talking about Liam?” She asks, hand already up Niall’s shirt.

“No,” Louis retorts, sticking her tongue in Harry’s ear.

The doorbell rings and they all freeze, staring at the door.

“Come in!” Harry calls out, cool as a cucumber. Niall giggles between them.

Liam walks in, followed by possibly the most beautiful girl Louis has ever seen in her life. “Hey, I hope it’s okay I brought-“ she breaks off, smiles, “uh, hi guys.”

“Hello,” Harry and Niall say, in gross domestic unison. Louis removes her tongue from Harry’s ear and begins to chew on her neck.

“This is Zayn,” Liam says, “I hope it’s okay she came along.” She guides Zayn further into the room, hand on her lower back. Zayn puts her arm around Liam’s shoulder, pulls her close, and smiles.

“Of course!” Niall says. “Good to meet ya!” She attempts to extricate herself from the tangle of bodies and plops onto the floor like a freshly birthed baby.

Zayn laughs. Louis chews harder.

-

Louis does not sulk. She is currently complimenting (the opposite of sulking, according to her dictionary.com app) in the bathroom while her so-called friends jerk it in the living room to Zayn’s super cool and interesting life. It’s like some embarrassing couple’s performance art. Zayn gives a detail about her life and then Liam tacks on _oh but don’t forget about [useless detail about Zayn’s boring life]_ and then they smile into each other’s eyes like they’re contestants on the newlywed game.   

Louis also does not get jealous. Louis gets what she wants, or she gets even or, on occasion, she gets the flu because she can never find it in herself to get the vaccine. However, she does not get jealous. Especially when she knows she has no right to be. Even if Louis _did_ have feelings for Liam, which she doesn’t, it’s not like she has any claim over Liam. Liam has every right to go out with whoever she pleases, even (and especially) if that includes her best friend who is also a fucking knockout. Louis is looking up synonyms for “knockout” when the bathroom door bursts open, Niall throwing herself bodily into the room. Her face falls when she sees Louis sat on the floor.

“Fuck, Lou. I thought I was gonna catch you in the middle of a massive shit, not sulking on the bathroom floor.”

“I’m not sulking.” _Bitch._

“Okay… well then what are you doing?”

“I think the better question is what are _you_ doing?”

“I missed you.” Louis hates her. “Can I sit?”

In lieu of an answer, Louis sits up straighter and pats the floor beside her. Niall slides down the wall until her butt hits the ground. She’s quiet, waiting for Louis to say something.

“I feel… weird. Sad, I guess. And then I feel like an idiot for being sad.”

“Babe,” Niall says, voice soft.

“I know. Just. I don’t really wanna talk about it.”

“And _we_ don’t have to.” Niall squeezes Louis’ right knee. “You should talk to Liam about it, though.”

Louis lets her head drop back against the wall and closes her eyes. If she can’t see Niall then she can pretend this conversation isn’t happening, right? “Even if she’s dating Zayn? And there’s nothing to talk about?”

“Well, I don’t think she is dating Zayn.”

“You saw them!”

“I saw two best friends. Don’t you think maybe what you’re seeing is different from what everyone else is seeing because of your feelings?”

“I don’t have feelings.”

“Alright, babe. Just think about it. Okay?”

“Yeah, alright.”

“Good. Now,” Niall stands up and puts her hand out, “let’s get back out there before they think we’re canoodling in here.”

-

When Louis was young, maybe nine or ten, she got it into her head that grapes were, like, the most decadent thing you could eat. She can’t really remember how it came about, but there was a solid period of Louis’ life where she thought that stuffing your mouth with grapes and then talking around them was a very High Class thing to do. She used to sit at her kitchen table and pop grape after grape into her mouth, making sure never to fully chew one before she’d plop another in. The whole time talking to herself.

She’d attempted to explain this to Liam, seated on Harry and Niall’s back porch (the others had run to the store for cake and Louis had elected to stay behind, Liam had followed), leg pressed flush up against Liam’s (bare, in shorts) and Liam had just looked at her. That look where you know someone is humoring you and they just kinda smile and nod and you know they don’t mean anything bad by it but they can’t relate and so they just smile encouragingly at you so you know that they Care. That look. Louis cannot abide that look. Which is how they end up in the kitchen, Liam giggling and beaming while Louis slams back half a bag of grapes and recites the pledge of allegiance. When she’s done Liam says, hiccuping with laughter, that she should never have doubted her.

Louis knows when she’s being mocked so she throws grapes at her, which turns into Liam trying to catch the grapes in her mouth, which turns into the both of them eating grapes at the kitchen table, which turns, eventually, into awkward silence.

Louis, however, is the queen of breaking awkward silences.

“Are you and Zayn fucking?”

“Um. What?” Liam looks like the dictionary definition of “taken aback.”

“You heard me.”

“Yes, I did. I just don’t see how it’s any of your business.”

One of Louis’ most endearing traits is that she is incapable of embarrassment and so she just snorts and opens her mouth wide, ready to cram the rest of her foot in there.

But Liam cuts her off. “No, though. I’m not.”

“Hmm,” Louis pauses, “is that something you would be opposed to?”

“Fucking Zayn?” Liam’s voice is soft on the _fucking_ like it’s not something she’s used to saying. “Or fucking girls?”

Louis coughs around the sudden dryness in her throat. “Uh. Girls.”

She thinks about it for a second. “No, I wouldn’t. Be opposed, that is.”

Louis’ mind goes blank and she curses Niall Goddamn Horan for making her have this conversation (although this is likely not the way Niall intended for her to handle it). “Good to know,” is all she can manage.

Liam smiles, like she knows something important has just happened, and Louis is forced to hit her in the eye with a grape.

 

***

 

Louis lives in the real world. She does. It’s not like she thought things were going to magically change after the dinner party. That Liam would walk in and throw herself across the desk at Louis and confess her undying love. But she’s a little surprised when _nothing_ seems to change. The summer is winding down and Louis is going back to school soon and neither Liam nor Louis has made a single move. Generally, Louis is the one to make the first move. She’s not afraid of it, and she’s generally pretty good at it. But the thing is, she just _cannot_ read Liam. Yes, Liam smiles at her a lot, but Liam smiles at the arcade machines when she leaves. And, yes, she admitted to Louis that was into girls and then _looked_ at her. But the more time passes, the less Louis is sure that there was anything actually contained in that look.

So, whatever. If Liam wants things to stay the same, then so does Louis. The final weeks leading up to the tournament are spectacularly Normal. Liam bowls four games a day, Louis gives her unbelievable amounts of shit for every single thing she does, Liam laughs like Louis is the funniest person she knows, and Louis stares at Liam the entire time she bowls.

Louis can do normal.

 

***

 

Louis works every day. As in, there are only three employees, of which she is the only one who covers the front desk. Which means, Louis works every single day. This seems to be a difficult concept for Liam to grasp as she’s just invited Louis to watch her tournament. In the bowling alley. Where Louis works. Every single day.

“Liam, I’ll be here. I have to be. Every day.”

“No, I know that. But I want you to be, like, in the audience.”

“Didn’t realize bowling was a spectator sport.”

“Louis!” Her voice is whiny and Louis could swear that she’s flirting, if that’s something she thought Liam Payne was capable of doing.

“Won’t Zayn be there?”

“Yes?” Liam asks, like Louis is an idiot. Which. To be fair.

“Well then you don’t need me. You’ve got an audience.”

“Yes, but I want _you_ to be there, Lou.” Her eyes are big and brown and sparkling, like a damn Disney princess, and Louis realizes that she never stood a fucking chance.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”

 

***

 

There’s three days until the end of summer women’s tournament and Louis is running out of time to ask Harry if she can abandon the desk to _spectate._ Part of her expects Harry to tell her that this business is her life, her _everything,_  and there’s no way she’s allowed to leave her post during one of their biggest events. The other part of her expects that Harry’s eyes will go all soft and she’ll say _of course_ and _we’ll figure something out._

-

When she finally asks, at closing that night, she’s not really surprised that it’s the latter.

“I was planning on halting all regular bowling that day anyway. I’m going to have a registration table but you’re free to watch all the bowling you want.”

“Awesome, Harry. Thank you.”

Harry's eyes get soft and she pulls Louis in for a very tight and prolonged hug. “You’re welcome, love.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

 

***

 

The night before the Big Day ( _GAME DAY,_ her brain screams, in a high school football jersey) Louis stays up until three a.m. making a card that says “You’re right up my alley.” It’s gross and cheesy and absolutely the proper way to finally make her move on miss Liam Payne.

 

***

 

The contestants must be allowed to pick their lanes because when Louis gets there, Liam is setting up at lane 5, her regular. Zayn is there already, which makes something twinge in her stomach, but she ignores it and goes to say hi. Liam is far too excited to see Louis there on the other side of the desk and Zayn smiles a genuine smile at the two of them, which makes the bad feeling in her stomach lessen until it’s almost completely gone. She pats the card in her purse, sits on the little couch next to Zayn, and watches as the tournament starts.

-

It’s not much of a tournament, as far as things go. Each player bowls two games and their scores are averaged. The player with the highest score wins, and so on down the line. After forty minutes, it’s all over. Liam places fifth out of eight and Louis can’t help it. She laughs. What the _fuck._ Harry hands out the ribbons, takes a group picture, and the rest of the contestants slowly filter out. Zayn gives Liam a hug and a kiss on the cheek on her way out and Louis thinks _bitch_ and then immediately feels guilty about it. Harry and Niall head out as well, asking Louis if she can close up, and then it’s just Louis and Liam. Louis pulls up an extra stool and they sit behind the front desk.  

Liam smiles and rubs her fifth place ribbon, looking like she’s about to say something, and Louis honestly can’t stop herself.

“Fifth place?!” She starts to laugh again.

Liam laughs, like always, a gut reaction to the Louis’ laughter. “What? That’s better than I did last year!”

“Noooo. Fuck, Li… are you bad at bowling?” Louis knows this isn’t the nicest question to ask but this is the best thing that’s ever happened to her. Ever ever.

“No!” Liam has a little furrow in her brow and Louis feels bad so she grabs her hand. “I mean, okay. I’m not _great._ ”

Louis laughs again.

“Besides,” Liam continues, “you made me nervous.”

“I thought you wanted me to watch!”

“I did!” she says, tone defensive. Then her expression softens and she squeezes their interlocked hands. “I really am glad you came. Thank you.”

Louis’ stomach twinges again, and she distracts herself by pulling out her horrific card with her free hand. “Made this for you.”

Liam lets go of her hand to open the card and the expression on her face while she reads it is absolutely too much for Louis to handle.

Liam closes the card, puts it on the counter, and says, “I’m going to kiss you now.”

Louis smiles because this Liam Payne, _bold_ Liam Payne, is exactly the kind of thing she can get behind (and under and also on top of). “Yes ma’am.”

Liam leans in, eyes fluttering closed, and kisses her on the mouth, soft and sweet.

Louis pulls back and says, “You better get used to bowling in front of me, because I don’t plan on missing a single game.”

Liam kisses her again, quick. “The season is over, babe.”

Louis pulls her in for a deeper kiss, sighing into it, mumbles against her mouth, “Goddamn just appreciate my fucking gesture.”

Liam just smiles. Like always.


End file.
